“…Also very interesting is how Sextus «demonstrates» that the basic concepts of Euclidean geometry are «non‐existing»: In Bett [173] on pages 70–72, we read c. Arguments for the nonexistence of length (or breadth or depth), in terms of which body is conceived (375–429)i.…”
Section: Some Conclusionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Finally, we conclude citing some ancient objections to the concept of surface that we have heard, some millennia later, for claiming that the theory of plates is «meaningless». One reads on page 78 of Bett [173] the Argument against body based on the concept of a surface as the limit of a body (430–436)[430] Besides, even if we allow that the line is a breadthless length, the argument about body will be found no less intractable for the geometers. For just as the sign produces a line when it has flowed, so too the line, when it has flowed, produces a surface, which is the limit of a body and has two dimensions, length and breadth .[431] Since, then, the surface is the limit of a body, the body is definitely limited.…”
Section: Some Conclusionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…It was presented by Sextus Empiricus already in mid‐late 2nd century AD in his Against the Physicists and Against Those in the Disciplines (see Refs. [173, 174]). Those who believe that history of philosophy is a waste of time for young scientists hopefully will change their opinion after having read the following excerpts.…”
Section: Some Conclusionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…In Bett [173] on page 69 and 70, we read b. Mathematicians' conception of body, and some initial impasses to which they lead (367–75)[367] But the issue should now be organized in terms of the mathematicians' conceptions.…”
their value greatly influences the equilibrium configurations. It is, therefore, clear that for generalized continua, balances of forces and torques cannot be sufficient to characterize equilibrium configurations.
“…Also very interesting is how Sextus «demonstrates» that the basic concepts of Euclidean geometry are «non‐existing»: In Bett [173] on pages 70–72, we read c. Arguments for the nonexistence of length (or breadth or depth), in terms of which body is conceived (375–429)i.…”
Section: Some Conclusionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Finally, we conclude citing some ancient objections to the concept of surface that we have heard, some millennia later, for claiming that the theory of plates is «meaningless». One reads on page 78 of Bett [173] the Argument against body based on the concept of a surface as the limit of a body (430–436)[430] Besides, even if we allow that the line is a breadthless length, the argument about body will be found no less intractable for the geometers. For just as the sign produces a line when it has flowed, so too the line, when it has flowed, produces a surface, which is the limit of a body and has two dimensions, length and breadth .[431] Since, then, the surface is the limit of a body, the body is definitely limited.…”
Section: Some Conclusionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…It was presented by Sextus Empiricus already in mid‐late 2nd century AD in his Against the Physicists and Against Those in the Disciplines (see Refs. [173, 174]). Those who believe that history of philosophy is a waste of time for young scientists hopefully will change their opinion after having read the following excerpts.…”
Section: Some Conclusionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…In Bett [173] on page 69 and 70, we read b. Mathematicians' conception of body, and some initial impasses to which they lead (367–75)[367] But the issue should now be organized in terms of the mathematicians' conceptions.…”
their value greatly influences the equilibrium configurations. It is, therefore, clear that for generalized continua, balances of forces and torques cannot be sufficient to characterize equilibrium configurations.
“…If nothing is true, therefore, there is a true thing. And so Xeniades, in saying that all appearances are false and that nothing at all in the things that are is true, has been brought round to the opposite of his thesis” (2005: 79; see also 99). The nihilist puts forward a claim: that nothing is true.…”
Section: Self‐refutation and Changing The Subjectmentioning
The thesis that nothing is true has long been thought to be a self‐refuting position not worthy of serious philosophical consideration. Recently, however, the thesis of alethic nihilism—that nothing is true—has been explicitly defended (notably by David Liggins). Nihilism is also, I argue, a consequence of other views about truth that have recently been advocated, such as fictionalism about truth and the inconsistency account. After offering an account of alethic nihilism, and how it purports to avoid the self‐refutation problem, I argue that it avoids the problem at the expense of changing the subject. I then present other arguments against nihilism and responses to the considerations offered in defense of it. The only tenable position is that something is indeed true.
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